Current Legal News

Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.

Longtime Nashville attorney William Gilliam Womack died March 10 from complications of a stroke. He was 74. Womack attended The University of the South at Sewanee and earned his law degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston. He practiced law in Nashville for many years, and served as a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve for more than 27 years. He retired with the rank of Commander and was the recipient of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Joint Service Commendation Medal. The funeral mass was held last Thursdy at St. Henry Catholic Church followed by burial at Middle Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the St. Henry Church ministry to the sick.

A state House committee has stripped student identification cards issued by public universities from a bill about photo IDs that can be used to vote. This comes less than a week after a full Senate voted to pass a bill allowing student IDs, the Memphis Daily News reports. Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, made the change, supported by Rep. Susan Lynn of Mt. Juliet, who said she was sponsoring the House version of the bill on behalf of the fellow Republican Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro.

The Stonewall Bar Association of Tennessee has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of marriage equality. The Supreme Court is set to hear two groundbreaking cases next week involving same-sex marriage and the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8. The Stonewall Bar filed a “friend of the court” brief in one of the cases, Hollinsworth v. Perry. “We urge the Supreme Court to strike down Prop 8 as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution” said Stonewall Bar president Sam Felker. “Essentially we argue that a state cannot single out gay and lesbian citizens and deny them the rights and benefits of marriage that are offered to heterosexual couples.”

A reception celebrating the life of long-time Memphis attorney Kemper B. Durand will be held March 29 from 3-4:30 p.m. at his former law firm, Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey, Johnson & Mitchell, One Commerce Square, 29th Floor, Memphis. Durand died Feb. 2. He was extensively involved in The Innocence Project, where his efforts led to the freeing of an individual who had served over 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. That effort was featured in the August 2002 Tennessee Bar Journal. He also was a founding member of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and was often called on by judges to sit on court committees. Read more about his life.

A news item in Tuesday’s issue of TBA Today referenced the wrong date for upcoming judicial retention elections in Tennessee. All current Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals judges will be subject to a retention vote in August 2014.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended the law license of Davidson County lawyer James D. McWilliams on March 19 based upon his plea of guilty to the serious crime of felony child abuse. The court also ordered the Board of Professional Responsibility to institute a formal proceeding to determine the extent of final discipline. Download the BPR notice.

Legislation to significantly revamp the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission could be heard as early as tomorrow in a House Judiciary subcommittee. The bill (SB 1058/HB 1227), as amended last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee, removes all of the present Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission members, reconstitutes the body without any judges as members, allows the commission to rewrite evaluation criteria, and provides that if an incumbent appellate level judge is evaluated as “for replacement,” that judge may not stand for retention election. The resulting judicial vacancy would then be filled by gubernatorial appointment after a nominating commission recommendation. TBA President Jackie Dixon said action on this bill right now amounts to “changing the rules, the referees and the scorekeeping after the two minute warning.” Retention elections are set for August 2014 for all current Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals judges.

Legislation set for consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee today to limit the effect of the collateral source rule in litigation (SB 1184/HB 978) will be studied over the off-legislative session instead. The Senate sponsor, Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, expressed his intention that the bill be first on the Senate Judiciary Committee calendar in 2014. The TBA has opposed the change in Tennessee tort law.

Firms seeking to address gender-based pay inequities have a new resource in the ABA Toolkit for Gender Equity in Partner Compensation. In explaining the initiative, ABA President Laurel G. Bellows said the proposal is intended to encourage law firm leaders to talk about potential changes in both compensation and hiring models, and provide practical ways to help firms deal with the issue. Read more about the initiative.

In an ongoing effort to deal with overcrowding and decertification of its detention center, the Greene County Commission held a meeting this week to hear proposals for a new $40 million Justice Center that would include a jail, courthouse and offices for the sheriff's department. The Greeneville Sun has the story.

The Shelby County Commission has submitted a plan to convert its current school board to a 13-member single-district body to U.S. District Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays. The lines closely follow, but are not identical to, the 13 districts to be used in county commission races in 2014, according to the Memphis Daily News. Ten of the seats would be up for election in 2014 with the remaining three on the ballot in 2016. All terms will be staggered. The plan also exempts current Memphis city schoolteachers from a requirement that they live within county limits. A previous version had required them to move into the county within five years.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) has revised its child death statistics upward. Since January, it has reported that 73 children brought to its attention died in 2012, but it now says the correct number is 105. For 2011, the number of children who died has increased 47 to 91. Newly appointed DCS Deputy Director Scott Modell said those numbers are now accurate, and blamed previous problems on errors in the agency’s computer system, the fact that data was not kept in one central place, and a lack of agreement on how to define the deaths of certain children. The Tennessean has more.

Clay McCormack, 49, of Jackson, was indicted Monday for his alleged role in a financial scheme. The indictment charged McCormack, an attorney with the Jackson law firm of Teel, McCormack & Maroney, with fraudulently obtaining loan proceeds from federally insured mortgage lenders. The U.S. Attorney announced the charge, saying McCormack teamed up with local real estate investor James Lee Bishop to act as his closing agent. According to an article in the Jackson Sun, McCormack certified that lenders were paid off via check after the closing, but would then void the checks and within days reissue them to Bishop, who in turn passed off the funds as having come from investors. McCormack also faces charges that he made false statements by creating false documentation and submitting it to the banks.

The Tennessee House on Monday voted 75-21 to deny public universities the ability to impose nondiscrimination policies on student organizations. The bill, according to Knoxnews, did not include private institutions like Vanderbilt University or Rhodes College, which had led Gov. Bill Haslam to veto a similar measure last year. Rep. Mark Pody of Lebanon, who sponsored the bill, said the legislation is designed to prevent colleges from requiring student groups to open membership and leadership positions to students that do not share their beliefs.

Memphis attorney James E. Leary died March 13. A graduate of the Southern University School of Law, Leary opened a law practice in Memphis in July 1954. In 1976, he was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Leary served simultaneously as president of the Memphis Shelby County Bar Association and the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association in 1970-1971. He retired in 1981. A veteran of World War II, Leary was a member of the Military Order of the World Wars and served as commander of the Memphis chapter from 1987-1988 and as commander of the Tennessee Department for one year. Funeral services were held March 17 at Memorial Park Funeral Home with burial at Memorial Park Cemetery. Read more about his life in The Commercial Appeal.

On Feb. 26 and March 11, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended a number of Tennessee-licensed attorneys who did not pay their annual registration fee to the Board of Professional Responsibility and did not file a mandatory compliance statement that eligible client funds are held in accounts participating in the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. Those who have complied with the rules since the orders were issued, and for whom notification of a status change has been received from the Board of Professional Responsibility, are noted as reinstated. See the lists and download the orders on the TBA website.

School will represent Tennessee at national competition in May

NASHVILLE, March 19, 2013 -- The Kingsport Area Christian Home Education Association (KACHEA) team claimed the state high school mock trial championship title this past weekend, defeating Montgomery Bell Academy of Nashville. The team now will represent Tennessee at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Indianapolis, Ind., May 9-11.

Retired Memphis lawyer Marvin Posner died March 12 after a prolonged illness. He was 81 years old. A native of Nashville, Posner earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Vanderbilt University and relocated to Memphis after graduating from the law school in 1956. He handled many adoptions, always donating the legal fees to charity. Posner also volunteered with the Memphis City Public Schools as a reading tutor, and served as a Wings volunteer for 12 years, helping those going through cancer treatment. Funeral services were held March 13 at Baron Hirsch Cemetery. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be sent to the Baron Hirsch Synagogue, 400 S. Yates Rd., Memphis, TN 38120; Margolin Hebrew Academy, 390 S. White Station Rd., Memphis, TN 38117; Anshei Sphard Bethel Emeth Synagogue, 120 E. Yates Rd. N., Memphis, TN 38120; or a charity of the donor’s choice. Read more about his life in The Commercial Appeal.

The Memphis Bar Association Veterans’ Committee, in conjunction with Memphis Area Legal Services, is starting a new monthly legal clinic to assist veterans with civil legal needs, including child support and visitation, landlord/tenant, employment and debtor/creditor issues. The first clinic will be held March 26 from noon until 2 p.m. at 1407 Union Ave., Suite 815. Anyone interested in volunteering for the clinic or helping plan for a future event should contact Anne Fritz at (901) 527-3575 or afritz@memphisbar.org.